Inner-spring unit for mattresses



March 5, 1940.

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Patented Mar. 5,

INNER-SPRING UNIT FOR MATTRESSES Arthur Wesley, Chicago, Ill., assignerto Burton- Dixie Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of DelawareApplication October 21, 1938, Serial No. 236,197'

3 Claims.

One of the leading objects and prime purposes of the current inventionis to provide an improved and novel type an'd style of springassemblyadapted for use in inner-spring mat- 5 tresses and for employment insimilar or comparable relations.

An outstanding and paramount aim of the invention is to supply aspiral-spring unit of the kind referred to in which the supportingcapacities of the various springs of the structure are varied orgraduated to conform substantially to the loads to which they aresubjected in service.

The central portion of a persons body is heavier than the head and legs,and, accordingly,

l5 that middle part of the spring structure is made of greater carryingcapacity without, however, decreasing the comfort of that section of thespring and mattress to the occupant.

Again, the border or margin of such a mattress is frequently subjectedto greater usage and loads than other parts, as by a person sitting onthe edge portion of a mattress, and, therefore, such border sectionsshould be of greater capacity or stiffer than other parts of thespring-unit within the mattress.

Conforming these springs to their several loads and at the same timepreserving their comfort and ease to the occupmts throughout the wholearea of the mattress is not such a simple matter as it may at rst appearto be.

For example, in a spring-unit having 19 cross rows of uprightspiral-springs and 1l lengthwise rows of such springs, the single row ofsprings around all four edges of the assembly may be considered as theborder-springs, the 9 rows of cross-springs (9 in each row) at themiddle portion of the spring-unit may be designated as the 0n the otherhand, each border-spring while 50 of the same form as each end-spring,is made of one-half gauge heavier wire to provide a stiffer margin forthe spring-unit.

The center section of the assembly must carry a greater weight than theend sections by reason n of the fact that, as stated above. the middleportion of a persons body is of materially greater weight than the headand legs which are supported by the two end sections of the unit. and,accordingly, the springs constituting such central section are each madeof greater carrying I capacity.

This is accomplished, in the present preferred embodiment of theinvention, by using wire of one-half gauge greater size than that ofwhich the end-springsare made, but this would make 10 the center of theunit objectionably stiller than the remainder, and, to overcome suchinconvenient or discommodious feature, each such centralsection springis given one more complete convolution than the end-springs, this beingdone 15 to ail'ord each such spring a greater volume of wire to supportthe greater load and to make each such spring of greater height, sayone-half inch, over the end springs, thus providing the assembly with aslight crown throughout its cen- 90 tral zone.

That is to say, each of these central-zone or middle-area springs, inorder to perform its extra duty, is increased in height, made of agreater number' of convolutions, and is formed of wire 23 of augmentedgauge.

This is not all, however, since, in order to 0E- set, or to compensate,for the naturally softer and more resilient eil'ect resulting from theuse of the added turn or convolution of the wire in 30 each spring, thediameter of the center convolution of the spring is reduced, in someinstances, about inch, as otherwise the extra turn of the wire wouldmake the central-springs softer than the end-springs. 35

Should these central-springs be merely stiffer than the others, as wouldhappen if the same windings in number and pitch and diameter as theend-springs were used, with merely an increase in the weight of thewire, they would be 40 uncomfortably objectionable. A

However, by making the several cooperative changes specified, allundesired factors are compensated forand the central-'springs are notappreciably stiier than the end-springs although they have more carryingor supporting power. So far as is known, these features are new and theresults accruing therefrom provide a springunit with unusualcharacteristics of comfort for, and enjoyment by, the occupants of themattress incorporating such resilient or elastic structure conforming inits various parts to the different weights ofthe several portions of thebody of a normal human being.

Referring to the accompanying drawings illustrating the presentpreferredembodiment of the invention described above and in the severalviews of which drawings like reference'numerals' have been used todesignate the same parts:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the spring-unit;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary vertical section on an enlarged scale on line2-2 of Figure l; and

Figure 3 is a partial vertical section on a similar enlarged scale online 3-3 of Figure l.

Referring to these drawings, the border-springs Il may be of wire of131/2 gauge and 5 inches high, the center-springs I2 may be of wire oi'14 gauge 51/2 inches high, and the end-springs Il may be of wire of141/2 gauge and 5 inches high, these several springs being joinedtogether in any approved manner to form a complete unit or assembly, asby the employment of helical-springs I4 interlocked with the end ringsor convolutions of the springs.

In the drawings, the differences between the springs have been purposelyexaggerated somewhat to make such differences more apparent orconspicuous.

'Ihose acquainted with this art will, of course, understand that theinvention as defined by the appended claims, which should be construedor l interpreted as generically as the state of the prior art willpermit, is not necessarily limited or restricted to the precise andexact details presented and that modiiications and changes may beresorted to without departure from the underlying principles of theinvention and without the loss or sacrifice of any oi' its materialbenents and advantages.

I claim:

1. In a mattress inner-spring unit, the combination o! uprightspiral-springs arranged in longitudinal and transverse rows and meansfastening said springs together to form a springunit, the longitudinalborder-springs' being of larger gauge wire than the springs forming thetwo transverse end-sections of the unit exclusive of theirborder-springs. the springs constituting the transverse central-sectionoi' the unit, exclusive of its border-springs, each being of heaviergauge wire, of greater heighth, and of more turns than the springs ofsaid end-sections, said longitudinal border-springs being of practicallythe same heighth, said central-section springs being of practically thesame heighth, and said endsection springs being of practically the sameheighth.

2. The mattress inner-spring unit set forth in claim 1 in which saidtransverse.central-section springs have their center convolutions ofless diameter than that of said end-section springs.

3. The mattress inner-spring unit set forth in claim 1 in which both thelongitudinal and transverse border-springs are of larger gauge wire thanthe springs forming the two transverse end-sections of the unit.

ARTHUR WESLEY.

